US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has confirmed it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while increasing manufacturing capacity to 2 billion doses of vaccine per year
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – US pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed on Friday that it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine, while increasing manufacturing capacity to 2 billion doses per year.
The chief of the European Commission said she immediately called Pfizer’s CEO. But as an indication that the problem could extend beyond Europe, the Canadian government said it was also affected.
Line Fedders, a spokeswoman for Pfizer Denmark, said Pfizer is scaling up production at its factory in Puurs, Belgium, to meet the new target of 2 billion doses. the authorities.”
“As a result, fewer doses will be available to European countries in late January and early February,” she said.
“This temporary cut will affect all European countries,” she said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Germany’s Ministry of Health said on Friday that Pfizer had informed the European Commission, which was responsible for ordering vaccines from the company, that it will not be able to fulfill all of its promised deliveries in the next three to four weeks.
The ministry said German officials took note of the Commission’s unexpected announcement “with regret” as the company had made binding delivery commitments in mid-February.
“Federal and state governments expect the European Commission to provide clarity and certainty as soon as possible in negotiations with Pfizer regarding further deliveries and delivery dates,” the statement said.
The Commission concluded the vaccine agreements on behalf of all 27 Member States, but is not responsible for timing and deliveries.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said she had “immediately called Pfizer’s CEO.”
“He assured me that all first quarter guaranteed doses will be delivered in the first quarter. He is personally involved in shortening the delay period and making sure they catch up as soon as possible, ”said von der Leyen.
Earlier Friday, Stefan de Keersmaecker, spokesman for the health policy of the Commission, said that deliveries are made on the basis of purchase orders and specific contracts concluded between the member states and the companies.
“The specifics of these arrangements are set out in these purchase orders or contracts,” he said.
The Commission has obtained up to 600 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine produced in collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech.
Pfizer’s Belgian factory will deliver all shots delivered outside of the United States, including Canada, where purchasing minister Anita Anand said Friday that the US drug manufacturer is temporarily reducing deliveries due to issues with its European production lines. While the company said it could still deliver four million doses at the end of March, that’s no longer guaranteed, she said.
Canadian officials said the cut means Canada’s vaccine shipments will be halved over the next month.
The country has only received 380,000 doses of the vaccine so far and is expected to receive another 400,000 doses this month, expecting nearly two million doses in February.
Norwegian authorities also said Friday they had been notified by Pfizer of the cut that will begin next week as the company increases its annual dose target from the current 1.3 billion.
“We predicted 43,875 vaccine doses from Pfizer at week 3. Now it looks like we are getting 36,075 doses,” said Geir Bukholm, director of infection control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
“The inventory we have now will be able to compensate for a decline in planned deliveries for a few weeks if needed,” he said.
In Finland, broadcaster YLE said the delay would cause domestic delivery problems in late January and early February.
Danish officials expressed concern.
Henrik Ullum, head of Statens Serum Institut, a government agency that maps the spread of the coronavirus in Denmark, said he expected the development to mean that “we will be able to vaccinate less in the near future than initially thought”.
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Samuel Petrequin and Raf Casert in Brussels, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.